Commet vs Conduit
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted matrix & xmpp options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Conduit
Simple, fast and reliable Matrix homeserver in Rust
| Feature | Commet | Conduit |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Matrix & XMPP | Matrix & XMPP |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Dart | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 100 | ★ 2,200 |
| First released | 2022 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Discord, Slack | Slack, Discord |
What are Commet and Conduit?
Commet
Commet is a Matrix chat client that targets desktop and mobile from a single Flutter codebase. It aims for a familiar messaging experience with support for spaces and end-to-end encryption.
- Flutter cross-platform client
- Spaces support
- End-to-end encryption
- Desktop and mobile
Conduit
Conduit is a lightweight Matrix homeserver written in Rust that aims to be easy to set up and run on small servers. It uses an embedded database and requires minimal configuration.
- Embedded database, no external DB
- Very low resource usage
- Single binary deployment
- Matrix federation support
Commet vs Conduit: key differences
Commet is written in Dart, while Conduit is built with Rust. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Commet versus Apache-2.0 for Conduit. Conduit is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Commet. Conduit is the more established project (first released 2020), while Commet arrived in 2022. Conduit has the considerably larger community, at 2,200 GitHub stars versus 100. Conduit lists first-class Docker deployment; Commet does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Commet if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in Dart
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose Conduit if…
- Extremely easy to deploy
- Runs on a Raspberry Pi
Watch out for
- Not all Matrix features implemented
- Smaller ecosystem
Frequently asked questions
Is Commet or Conduit better?
Neither is universally better. Conduit has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Commet and Conduit free and open-source?
Yes. Commet is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Conduit under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Commet and Conduit with Docker?
Commet: check the project docs for container support. Conduit: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Commet or Conduit?
Conduit has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Commet. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.